Rams, Cheerleaders and Rams Legends Head To London

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EARTH CITY, MO. (KPLR) – The Cardinals were done and heading home but the Rams were London bound Monday night.

Fox 2 will be with the team on their historic road trip to take on the Patriots Sunday.

Fans say there are downsides as well upsides.

On the downside: it’s a very long trip and Rams home game, so we lose a game in St. Louis.

On the upside: Rams management considers the trip to be “Super Bowl-esque".

The players, cheerleaders, and staff, hopped on buses for the airport, knowing their job of showing off St. Louis would pretty much start as soon as they landed in London.

“Ii think we’re landing at 6 in the morning or 7 in the morning. We’re going to hit the ground running. We’re going to go meet fans; interact; have some pep rallies. It’s “go” time,” said Jennifer, a Rams cheerleader.

She said they had to walk off the plane ready to go; there would be no time to go to their hotel first.

A group of cheerleaders had a little practice: going to London to perform at a Super Bowl party in February and promote Sunday’s game against the Patriot’s, all these months later. They developed a taste for the place.

“My favorite thing that London had to offer, which is kind of silly, it was porridge. I woke up every morning and was dying. I love oatmeal. It is pretty much oatmeal. But just the name porridge. It sounded so cool,” laughed Taylor, a Rams cheerleader.

She said the cheerleaders had more than 50 appearances scheduled in London before the game.

They shared one mission with the more 400 team members, staffers, and St. Louis area business guests traveling to London for the game: showcase NFL football; more precisely, the Rams and city they represent.

“For us it’s a chance to really connect our organization with the world; put the rams on a global stage; build greater ties between St. Louis and the UK,” said Rams Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Demoff. “I think it’ll be a great opportunity for us to play on a prime time stage in front of 87,000 fans, in a Super Bowl atmosphere, which we’re excited about for our young team.”

In the end, it is about Sunday’s game; returning the team to its glory days; So, Rams legends are making the trip, too; like Rams Hall of Famer, Jackie Slater, who played a Rams preseason game in London in 1987.

He said it was still a career highlight.

“A lot of people view it as an inconvenience, but for the players, for the organization, and the league it’s all very good. Good to be going back, looking forward to it, seeing Wembley Stadium one more time,” Slater said.

“I know one thing I’ll be going to the football game cheering the Rams on; make sure they come back with a win. That’s the number 1 objective,” said former Rams WR, Isaac Bruce.

“Hopefully they’ll get some time Saturday and maybe to see the ‘Changing of the Guard’ [at Buckingham Palace]. We’d like to make the change in the guard in the NFL. We’ll take down the Patriots. That’ll be our own, symbolic, changing of the guard,” Demoff said.

That plane took off around 6:45 Monday night, which was about 12:45 in the morning, London time.

The players and cheerleaders will be at a football, cheerleading, coaching clinic, for 500 London school children in the morning.